000
FXUS63 KDMX 102145
AFDDMX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
345 PM CST Sun Dec 10 2017
.SHORT TERM.../Tonight through Monday/
Issued at 342 PM CST Sun Dec 10 2017
Confidence: Medium to High
System crossing the region today has already brought northwest
surface flow back to most of the area...with some gusts as well.
Area of lower stratus over northeast Iowa will drift to the east by
evening. In the mean time...an Alberta Clipper is rapidly moving
southeast toward the Northern Plains and Central Plains/Great Lakes
once again. Larger scale pattern continues to tell the story:
Northwest flow predominates but also the ridge of high pressure over
the west continues to cut the Gulf of Mexico off from any moisture
transport north. Even more importantly...for the Clipper systems
originating from Canada...this ridge which extends north along the
west coast to eastern Canada/British Columbia is limiting moisture
transport southeast into the US. The longer residence time along
the Rockies due to the southeast trajectory appears to be squeezing
out more of the moisture with each system. Unfortunately the models
have not quite caught on to the situation and continue to
overforecast precipitation beyond about 3 days. The amount of
moisture available is not likely to change for our region until the
ridge breaks down and systems are allowed to track more east with
time. The good news is that there is a hint at 228-240 hours though
the GFS and Euro are not in great agreement regarding the amplitude
of the ridge by that time. Upshot is that the system tomorrow will
once again be moisture limited...though we may be able to see a
light amount of precipitation. As clouds increase later tonight
another push of milder air aloft will move into Iowa with H850
temperatures peaking ahead of the system during the overnight hours.
Both the GFS/NAM show H850 temperatures from 0C to about 4-5C from
north to southwest by 12z tomorrow morning. This will keep
overnight lows rather mild...with the warm air advection then
quickly coming to an end by 18z. With the passage of the front lift
and stronger mixing will follow. Our best chances for any
precipitation will accompany the upper levelfront around H850
during the afternoon hours. Bufr soundings show sufficient shear...
saturation and boundary layershear to produce banded HCR
precipitation following the front. Coverage looks to be somewhat
limited but the the potential for snow flurries/showers there may be
brief periods of light snow combined with gusty winds. The lack of
any appreciable available moisture will limit any impacts. Overall
the system is not packing much moisture...even cross sections
showing extent of moisture limited over time at mid-levels with best
mid level moisture between 15-21z north and 15-21z south though lift
remains rather meager through column. A layer of dry air also works
quickly into the system from the north by afternoon and essentially
cuts off chances for precipitation...other than maybe a few flurries
or a brief period of light drizzle. Any precipitation will then
diminish quickly into the mid to late afternoon hours with
increasing subsidence. Subsidence values behind the boundary are
about 1-2 microbars/sec with average H850 winds around 35 to 40kts.
Both gradient winds and winds aloft remain brisk through the evening
with subsidence supporting gusty winds Monday evening as well. With
colder air replacing the warmer air tomorrow highs will not be quite
as warm as today but still above average for this time of the
year...topping out in the 30s to mid 40s from north/south.
.LONG TERM.../Monday night through Sunday/
Issued at 342 PM CST Sun Dec 10 2017
As the upper wave departs Monday night and Tuesday the gradient
still remains pretty tight over the state so while no precip is
expected, winds will remain quite brisk. With colder air in place
it will feel pretty cold all the way into Wednesday. The exception
being the far southwest where warmer air will begin to work in and
highs will start approaching the upper 40s or even 50.
Except for the Euro...which is weaker...all the medium range models
are suggesting that Wednesday will be dry as the better forcing gets
shunted to our northeast. The Euro does still bring the shortwave
right across central Iowa which would indicate some precip potential
but soundings do not support precip over the area...too much dry air
in place. Northern Iowa...if some forcing could work down far
enough would maybe have enough moisture to squeeze out some precip
but confidence has slipped enough to not include precip at this
time.
There is little change to previous forecast runs to the overall
pattern past Thursday with the west coast ridge flattening some as
a Canadian low treks eastward. This will produce a zonal flow
over the region and allow for modification of temps, but mainly
over the southwest third to half of the state. The northeast
cannot seem to break out of the 30s to lower 40s due to the
proximity of the Great Lakes trough impacting that area, while
the southwest will see temps well into the 40s and possibly lower
50slate in the week or weekend. Systems that do drop through the
meanflow seem to stay in the Northern Plains and northern
portions of the Upper Midwest grazing possibly northeast Iowa and
locations north and east.
&&
.AVIATION.../For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon/
Issued at 1145 AM CST Sun Dec 10 2017
Main overall concerns this period will be increasing lower cigs
aft 12z Monday mainly north sites KMCW/KALO when potential for
MVFR conditions are possible as well as stronger winds Monday.
Today looking for brief period of MVFR cigs at KMCW from 20z
through ~00z though possible that back edge of clouds may lift.
Stronger northwest winds Monday following the passage of the cold
front will remain through the period and probably beyond 00z as
well as advertised by both sfc guidance and soundings. Cigs will
lower as well beyond 18z. /rev
&&
.DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&
$$
SHORT TERM...REV
LONG TERM...FAB
AVIATION...REV